Hollywood where the original ideas relevant to producing new movies have been dried up for decades, keeps "remaking" the old movies in general and international flicks in particular. This one is a new version of an old one, "Stanno Tutti Bene - 1990." The differences and similarities are to be reviewed at the end of the author's commentary.

Frank Goode [Robert De Niro], a widower who has been retired from a state job some time ago, a minimalist, lives his life without much passion or expectations, being content with the things happening around him tries adjusting to the loss of his wife short time ago. His only interest appears to be centering on his four children scattered through the US. He is a bit concerned as all of them have either not necessarily been responsive to his inquiries or their communication style with their parent is consistent of short and surface talk. Frank who has realized that they have not been visiting with him since his wife's demise, decides to visit with them without letting them know about his plans.

Frank knows that David [Austin Lysy] is a great artist whose paintings are in demand, Amy [Kate Beckinsale], a business woman, lives happily ever after with her lawyer husband and their adolescent boy, Robert [Sam Rockwell] is a conductor of the philharmonic orchestra and Amy [Drew Barrymore] is the owner of a business in cosmetics industry. He starts his journeys using buses, trains and... planes he does not like since he is scared to death because of his phobia!

His first visit is planned to be with David. Despite his constant visiting his apartment and calling him, leaving messages, David does not respond. He decides to visit with Amy who appears to be be in a mini-shock once she sees her Dad in the doorstep with no previous communication. She immediately communicates with her husband while Frank helps himself in the room assigned to him. He somehow feels that there is a tension between his daughter and her husband surfaced by his grandson's sarcastic behavior & attitude towards his father, Frank's son-in-law during the dinner. He, speculates this being a domestic problem experienced in every marriage all the time hence dismisses easily. His third visit is with Robert and wants to surprise him during the orchestra's rehearsal. He, however, is shocked to find out that his son is nothing but a percussion musician in the group. Later on during their chat, Robert tells his father a lot of things rationalizing this while Frank is not satisfied with his son's explanations. Last but not least, his visit with Rosie too, goes awkward since, inadvertently, he hears a telephone message left by her boyfriend telling Rosie how he has been happy to hear that she was pregnant and plan to treat her with a dinner after her finishing her job in restaurant!

Frank finally realizes that his children have not necessarily been honest with him but nevertheless does not make any waves and wants to return back home as soon as possible... with a plane trip! He experiences great deal of stress partly because of his phobia and partly because of his disappointments with the kids and shows the symptoms of an heart attack! Once he is hospitalized, he finds all of his children except David being around the hospital bed leading them to spill the beans. David, being a long time drug addict, goes into a coma and dies after an overdose. Amy has already made preparations to divorce her husband but both along with their teenager decided to play, for his sake, a "happy family" during Frank's visit. Robert, not able to complete his studies, has always been a percussion musician in the orchestra. Amy failed in her business and works as a waitress in a restaurant & bar to pay bills while she is pregnant. This has been too much for Frank who returns home broken-hearted after released from the hospital and speaks to his wife before her grave stone as he always been doing since her death, reviews the news, tries to digest them slowly but steadily.

He started to think whether his written invitation of them for Thanksgiving, designed with sense of humor, would actually be worth this disappointment. We, however, sees all of them being around the table in Frank's home during Thanksgiving in the last scene of the film. He, apparently, was successful, after all, in his visit in moving the family to get together again. He looks at them, with love, while they are having a good time and thinks... everybody's fine...

In the original production, the protagonist is Matteo Scuro [Marcello Mastroianni], a Sicilian paternal family chief, obsessed with his children's being wealthy, products of their successful higher education, tells everybody he meets about them and their success stories based on what he has already been informed by them. Canio, Tosca, Guglielmo and Norma scenarios are quite reflective of David, Amy, Robert and Rosie. Unlike Frank who appears to be quite modest in his expectations, however, Matteo, despite being also a loving father, seems & sounds to be quite a controlling individual. The cinema goers build immediate sympathy for Frank while they are a bit irritated by Matteo's high expectations of his children on education and wealth. This is one of the differences between "heroes" of these films. Frank appears accepting his state job from which he was retired. Matteo, on the other hand, has always been regretful, if not resentful, that he has never fulfilled his childhood dreams of education and wealth hence his efforts to observe these in his children, the extensions of himself so he may come up with something to be proud of mentioning to others.

Perhaps the most obvious flaw of the American version, is copying the story without taking cultural-traditional phenomenon into the consideration. It is realistic for the kids hiding & hindering the facts from Matteo but they are doing the same for Frank is disproportionate to the American culture in general. American "elite" too, expect their children's educating themselves, getting married and having relative wealth proportionate to their own levels but... they are most likely tuned to their offspring' having a successful & happy life enough to provide enough for themselves regardless the legitimate trades the children choose. A daughter of a senator, working in a restaurant as a waitress, a son of a lawyer, working as a a musician, and etc. would not necessarily be considered something to be ashamed of within the socio-familial perspective. In a rural, paternal and conservative Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures, however, despite the expectations would not necessarily be as delineated as one may observe in the Indian "cast" system, a doctor's son or daughter, working as a waiter/waitress may be, in a socio-familial sense, considered something shameful.

The same phenomenon may also be viewed within the line of the Dad's visiting with his children. Matteo's children, based on their strict, paternal and conservative upbringing, are expected to drop everything and comfort their parent despite his appearing before their doorsteps without any previous communication relevant to their approval of his visit. Frank, on the other hand, does quite inappropriate move and drops by without a warning, a "no-no" in general American culture, i.e., one's visit is expected to be approved by the host/hostess regardless the position of the guest.

The beautiful movie sound-track composed & conducted by Ennio Morricone in the original is another difference between these two productions.

Matteo's denial of the reality and verbalizing that "everybody"s fine" toward his wife's before her grave stone also generates contrast with Frank's looking at his children during Thanksgiving and narrating, for the cinema goers, that "everybody's fine."

Now... similarities:

Both Frank and Matteo meet very interesting characters during their travels.

Both men are "domestic" individuals we see, meet and talk everyday, positive & negative, hence their ability building a rapport with the cinema audience, very quickly. The people find corresponding characters and qualities, or lack of them, in their trek during the film. The whole movie as well as clips, present many scenes that generate & maintain quite an extensive discussion potential among the people, media, students, behavioral health professionals-in-training and especially....patients in the groups. Communication, father-son & father-daughter relationships, disappointments, acceptance, forgiveness, belief-thought-emotion reviews are but a few topics that may help patients to find out a new materials about themselves while the therapists may also find many clues while the patients express their views within the perspective of the treatment modality each patient may need.

Considering "elders-grown up children" relationship has also changed in pur contemporary times, its positive or negative effects on behavioral health may be very easily reviewed in this film.

Dr. Fuat Ulus